News Release: Senators announce 2013-14 regular-season schedule

OTTAWA - The National Hockey League and the Ottawa Senators today announced the 2013-14 regular-season schedule, which will see the club open on the road for the third consecutive season, when it visits the Sabres at Buffalo’s First Niagara Center on Friday, Oct. 4. The Senators will begin the season with a six-game road trip before opening their home schedule at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday, Oct. 17, when they host the New Jersey Devils. The 82-game calendar concludes when Ottawa visits the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday, April 13.

The Senators’ 2013-14 regular-season schedule, the first since conference realignment, will feature home and road games against every NHL team. The Senators division will now include seven opponents - the Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Montreal Canadiens, Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs. The new schedule format features five games against two divisional opponents (Montreal and Tampa Bay) and four games against the remaining five teams (Boston, Buffalo, Detroit, Florida and Toronto). The Senators will play the remaining eight teams in the Eastern Conference three times each, and will play a home-and-home series against all 14 Western Conference clubs.

The Stanley Cup-champion Chicago Blackhawks make their only regular-season visit to Ottawa on Friday, March 28, while the Senators will visit the Windy City on Tuesday, Oct. 29.

The regular-season home schedule at Canadian Tire Centre includes 31 games from Thursday to Sunday as follows: Thursday (12), Friday (five), Saturday (eight) and Sunday (six). Early-week games feature six on Mondays, two on Tuesdays and two on Wednesdays. The home games scheduled Monday to Friday will be begin at 7:30 p.m., with the exception of 7 p.m. starts against Montreal on Thursday, Nov. 7, and Friday, April 4, as well as Wednesday, April 2, when the Senators oppose the New York Islanders. Five Saturday games will commence at 2 p.m., while three will start at 7 p.m. Home games scheduled on Sunday will begin at 5 p.m., with the exception of 1 p.m. starts on Sunday, Nov. 3, against Dallas and Sunday, Nov. 17, versus Columbus, while the Sunday, Dec. 1 contest against the Detroit Red Wings will begin at 5:30 p.m. The Senators will play 23 games at Canadian Tire Centre in the first half of the season and 18 home games in the second half. The Senators play 12 games in October (four home, eight away), 14 in November (nine-five), 16 in December (11-five), 12 in January (four-eight), six in February (two-four), 15 in March (seven-eight) and seven in April (four-three) to round out the schedule.

Heritage classic

The Senators will provide the opposition when the Vancouver Canucks host the Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic™ on Sunday, March 2, at BC Place. The outdoor game will be the Senators’ first in franchise history and will conclude the teams’ regular-season home-and-home series following the Canucks’ visit to Ottawa on Nov. 28. The game will also mark Ottawa’s first of five consecutive road games in Canada.

Other schedule highlights for 2013-14

- The Senators open the campaign with a season-long six-game road trip from Oct. 4 to Oct. 15 (12 days).

- The Senators have two five-game homestands, Nov. 7 to Nov. 17 (11 days) and March 28 to April 5 (eight days).

- The Senators will oppose the Eastern Conference-champion Boston Bruins on four occasions, including home games on Friday, Nov. 15, and Saturday, Dec. 28. The Dec. 28 contest will mark the first of two home games during the Bell Capital Cup, with an additional game set to be played the day after the tournament’s conclusion (on Jan. 2).

- The Detroit Red Wings and Daniel Alfredsson visit the nation’s capital for the first time as part of the Eastern Conference on Sunday, Dec. 1. The Senators will also host the Red Wings on Thursday, Feb. 27, which concludes the four-game season series between the two clubs.

- The Senators will have a 18-day layoff between Feb. 9 and Feb. 26 when the NHL season breaks to allow players to participate in the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.

2013-14 season-seat packages

Senators 2013-14 season seats (full- and half-season and Flex 40) and mini plans (Flex 20 and 10-game set-seat plans) are on sale now. Half-season packages start from only $15 per game in the Coca-Cola Zone. For more information, call 613-599-0200 (toll-free 1 800-444-7367) or e-mail us at ticket-info@ottawasenators.com.

The pricing for game packs, groups and single-game tickets for the pre-season and regular season will be announced in August, along with the 2013-14 promotional schedule.

The Senators’ 2013-14 regular-season schedule, including key on-sale dates, will be available for fans to download to their Outlook or any other electronic calendar. To download the schedule and for more information on the Senators, visit www.ottawasenators.com. The complete schedule will also be available by downloading the Senators mobile app to your Smartphone.